The best way of explaining this is by a picture.
The picture to the right shows Lutz with an example of a piece of specialised textile work used in bakeries. One of the problems we have is that we can, quite literally, sew anything that can be sewn. It is thus difficult to explain to people what we do, unless we have an example of what they would like us to produce.
What we would like to do
There are a large number of retrenched textile workers in the Western Cape, We would like to expand our activities and our market, and employ these people, who already have the basic skills required to work in the industry. In addition, we would like to transfer our skills, both technical as well as business, to the members of the co-operative to ensure long term viability. Since we are able to manufacture items used throughout Africa (and indeed, the rest of the world) we strongly believe that there is a significant business opportunity here. This is especially so because we do not operate in the retail market, and so are a lot less price sensitive than clothing manufacturers would be, for example. We believe that this would enable us to pay wages significantly higher than the norm, and so lead perhaps to a new model of doing business in the textile industry.